Steely

Idly counting the days in the now-ness of it all, and will never drink again. The Beast can't count.

Steely

And by which I mean that the counting of days can give people a real sense of achievement and accomplishment in the early days. A completely harmless thing to do. Everyone has a day 1.

Fusion

My Beast can count. It's presently reminding me that 'you haven't had a drink since 8 September 2016. Wow, can you believe it, last year, four months sober in a just a few hours. That's amazing and the longest you've achieved, ever, in twenty years. So you've proven you didnt really have a problem, you just over-did it and can resume drinking, as a normal moderate, social drinker; just like you used to be years ago, have a couple of drinks, just a few days a week, maybe weekends only, perhaps just this weekend then stop for another few months.....and on and on. Blah, blah, blah said my day loving Beast.

I replied: 'I don't drink alcohol and I will never drink again (and I don't count days - you do).

Steely, it's a mind tool that gives me the power, not it. That is not to say that non AVRT methods, which use the counting of days, aren't effective for some people, they just didn't work for me. Whatever works for the individual is the crux.

Algorithm

Have you read through the RR:TNC book, or the AVRT discussion threads, Steely? This time thing will become more clear if you do. See pages 138-141 in the book, for example.

The Beast may not be able to count time, but it has access to your knowledge, and it will use your own understanding of time against you. Counting time to gain confidence 'in the early days', as you suggest, is Addictive Voice. It implies that one's ability to abstain as something yet to be proved, a miracle akin to firewalking.

This is the crux of the problem, Tatsy. The Beast will inevitably focus on its own deprivation, and will try to use the concept of TIME to its own advantage, in an attempt to resurrect the addiction. It will also play both sides of the TIME argument, as your example clearly shows.

IT will argue that abstinent TIME is a miracle, but curiously, that TIME also proves that you can handle more drinking, as if it weren't a miracle. It will argue that you can take it or leave it, start and stop at any time, and then try to corral any possible future drinking into the present, into the NOW.

This is why we meet the Beast on its own turf, in the never-ending present moment, say "I never now drink", and simply let the Beast count time.

Counting TIME, or disagreeing with AVRT, does not mean that someone will drink again, but AVRT targets any thinking that supports or suggests the possible future use of alcohol. Counting TIME to gain confidence is Addictive Voice, and AVRT will identify it as such.